Texas cheerleaders shot after mistakenly getting into wrong vehicle – suspect in custody, charged with deadly conduct

A group of four elite competitive cheerleaders were shot at on Tuesday morning after one of the young women mistakenly got into the wrong vehicle, believing it to be hers. Two of the athletes sustained injuries; one was transported to the hospital in critical condition.

Early Tuesday morning, the cheerleaders were driving back from practice, an approximately 360-mile round-trip the young women make three times per week. They stopped at an H-E-B in Elgin, which they used as their designated carpool lot.

Cheerleader Heather Roth stated that shortly after midnight, she exited her friend's vehicle and opened the door to a vehicle she believed to be her own, when she noticed a man in the passenger seat. Roth said she immediately returned to her friend's car in a panic.

The man then also exited the vehicle and approached the cheerleaders.

Roth stated that she rolled down her window to apologize and explain the mix-up to the man. According to Roth, the man reacted by throwing up his hands, drawing a gun, and opening fire on the young women.

An H-E-B employee confirmed seeing a man "shoot at the vehicle multiple times."

Roth sustained a graze wound, but her friend and teammate Payton Washington, 18, was shot in the leg and back.

According to Roth, she witnessed Washington throwing up blood. Washington was transported via helicopter to a nearby hospital in critical condition.

The alleged gunman, 25-year-old Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr., was placed under arrest Tuesday and charged with deadly conduct.

In a Wednesday interview with NBC News, Washington's father provided an update about his daughter's condition. He stated that doctors removed Washington's spleen; she is now in stable condition and recovering in the ICU. He also noted that his daughter was born with one lung and is as "tough as they come."

The young woman has another surgery to undergo before she can be released.

Washington's father explained that he was shocked that the suspect responded to the mistake by opening fire on the young women.

"You watched her walk up to your door on accident, it's a girl in a cheer outfit," he stated. "This young man has to deal with the next call, his own recollection and reflection of what he's done and whatever God has for him. That's a sentence in itself that he has to work through."

KTRK-TV reported that the investigation is still ongoing, and additional charges are expected.

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